Recently I attended an induction workshop for dry point printing and I feel like it was a revelation for my practice. during the induction I was very excited as I was learning about the kind of printing that it is, its more of a sketchy and looser style of printing compared to Lino printing for example, but I felt that I could be more precise with the process than when using monoprint. I really like the freedom of potential materials to carve into, as we had the option of using cut open cartons or slightly "fancier" plastic sheets we can buy form the paper store. I like these options because if I want something bigger and sturdier for a final piece of work I have access to it but for the most part I can use recycled cartons I bring in or that are provided and I believe its good to recycle and reuse when possible, also I really love the effect I can get from etching into the cartons so its very much a win win situation.
I really love how the etching process feels like a more intense version of sketching, but it feels loose and easy and familiar and I feel less worried about making mistakes compared to other kinds of printing. As well as this I feel the style also aids my kind of themes and practice that I'm working with currently and I'm very excited about continuing to improve and attend dry point sessions I book out.
I also really enjoyed the process itself and working with the inks. The unique parts of the process include soaking the paper to print on before printing on it and also scraping the ink into all the lines and crevice's before scrubbing away at it. it was challenging but fun to play around with plate tone by scrubbing away more or less ink revealing brighter and darker parts after printing, as seen below in my first print i tried to make the middle and face area brighter and the surrounding area I left more ink and I feel like having more contrast like this creates more of a visually appealing look as well as a more in depth feel to the piece.
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